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Do you want to update your melamine kitchen or bathroom cabinets? The most economical way is to repaint them or apply a faux finish to the cabinets and doors. Let your imagination run wild! However, if you can invest a bit of time and money, here are a few ideas that require a bit of patience and dexterity.
These ideas involve covering your cupboard cabinets and doors with materials you can find in big-box stores.
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Do you want to keep ahead of trends in decoration rather than follow them? Take a close look at the inside of bars, restaurants and clubs.
What attracts your attention is likely to be on the front page of a magazine in the near future. Bars and restaurants are often ahead of home decoration trends.
Decoration professionals admit it. They take advantage of a happy hour or a meal with plenty to drink to visually explore a bar or restaurant’s visual design.
Invited to a reception in Old Montreal, a couple of professional decorators tell us about having been stricken by black wallpaper combined with a series of mirrors. You can imagine the rest. They used the same look in the entrance of their home. The black wallpaper and mirrors became the centrepiece of the entire interior decor, to the extent that the adjacent rooms fit with the entrance.
Because it’s an apartment, the two decoration pros used their genius to make sure that the entrance isn’t too dark.[……]
This futuristic ensemble is the parliament of Brazil. The right-side up saucer contains the Senate, while the upside down saucer is the seat of the Chamber of Deputies. The two skyscrapers house the offices of bureaucrats, senators and deputies.
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If it’s true that ingenuity lies in simplicity, we should prostrate before Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. His parliament building, called the Brazilian National Congress, is simple, elegant and efficient.
It is under these domes that deputies and senators discuss the forthcoming World Cup of Soccer and the Rio Olympic Games.
Obviously it doesn’t make sense for senators and deputies to debate in such hermetic buildings. Actually they don’t; the two domes are symbols more than anything else. The two parliamentary assemblies are partially underground. The dome that opens to the sky symbolizes the deputies’ openness to the people, while the upside down dome symbolizes reflection.
Loyal to its philosophy, the Guide du Routard takes pride in providing the people’s point of view for which “the overturned bowl evokes comfortable senators, while its alter ego symbolizes deputies who are demanding to eat.”[……]
Have you ever tried to contact a financial institution to learn more about a special promotion, only to discover that in reality, it wasn’t at all suited to your needs?
Financial packages are developed to satisfy the needs of a clientele whose priorities vary tremendously based on personal situations.
National Bank has therefore decided to take the time to thoroughly understand your reality in order to establish your financial profile and propose actions that can truly help you achieve your objectives. Because it’s only once we understand a situation completely that we can then plan accordingly and determine the best means to the end we seek.
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Financial packages tailored to the needs of professionals and students
When it comes to developing financial packages, our approach has been to offer you personalized service by granting you access to specialized advice and services. Depending on your occupation, you can benefit from several banking privileges:[……]
Because you have a green vision, you’re thinking about an oiled hardwood floor rather than varnished. Did you know that your ancestors used this technique? It’s certainly not new. And the results are good enough to install an oiled floor in public. Imagine what it would look like in a private residence!
You’re renovating and you’re faced with a varnished hardwood floor, but you don’t feel like sanding and varnishing it again. You know what it involves: sanding, dust, strong and persistent odours, using chemical products, obligation to live elsewhere while the work is being done and knowing that you have to start over 8 to 10 years later. You therefore opt for an oiled floor.
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You sand to remove all traces of varnish. After a good dusting, you apply three coats of oil specially designed for this purpose. Naturally you need time between each coat. You use a soft cloth to apply the oil on all fours. If this position is too hard, you can buy oiled floors that are ready to install. [……]
Music rises to the heavens. Anyone who has ever attended an outdoor symphonic music concert or a large rock concert, like Pink Floyd, Metallica or Supertramp knows all too well. Even indoors we have the impression that the music wants to rise.
Danish architect Jorn Utzon completely understood. That’s the origin of his Opera House in Sydney, Australia, whose roof appears to have been designed to let the music escape through the openings. The unique building was inaugurated in 1973, but 40 years later, it is still the envy of architects the world over.
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Everyone interprets the work their own way. To some, it represents a series of shells; for others, sails. Tourists probably have their own serious and outlandish interpretations. Who’s right?[……]
We often hear that you have to enjoy the moment. But given the ice-cold winter that has lasted since December—until February 13 at least—it’s really tempting just to close your eyes and imagine the soft spring sun shining down. Especially if you’re feeling down.
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The best remedy according to many health experts: action! We start looking for something to brighten up our day. In our houses, we change the décor to give it a spring air.
Spring evokes many images and comforts: snowdrop, daffodil, tender green shoots, buds, soft heat, and murmur of melting snow brooks. In his poem Spring Victor Hugo said: “It seems like everything is laughing, and that the green trees are happy to be together and recite verses…”
To deal with this endless winter, find out what brings a smile to your face and makes you and your loved ones happy.
Here are few ideas:[……]